BMW 1-series Coupe: Yep, Its Expensive

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YSSMAN

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Our boy Omar over at eGMCartech passed along a tip yesterday that BMW had a plaque standing next to its 135i listing the available options and price of its turbocharged entrant into the sport compact scene. Finally, all the speculation shall come to rest. After weaseling our way onto the show floor before the doors opened this morning, we made a B-line for the Bimmer booth to check it out for ourselves. The 135i sat on its pedestal, but unlike every other model there, the telltale placard was absent. Five minutes of snooping later, we hit gold behind a wall and you can check out the entire pricing and options list after the jump.

Pricing for the 135i starts at $35,675 -- very close to what's been rumored since its unveiling in Frankfurt. While that's certainly on the high side of things, it's not until you start optioning up the coupe that things get out of hand. REALLY out of hand. Tick the box for an automatic, and you're up another $1,275. Want the paddle shifters? Tack on another $100. The premium package boosts it up another $3,300; navigation with iDrive, $2,100. And on, and on, and on. The only thing missing is the price of the rarified air in the cabin, but BMW was nice enough to provide the windshield for free.

Bottom line: if you MAX-OUT the 135i, you're looking at over $52,000. Considering that a base 3-series comes in at around $32k (stripped), you'd better be very confident with your decision to be the first on your block to sport BMW's new hotness.

EDIT: 128i Pricing Found! Kicking Tires has learned that the 128i will start at a much more reasonable $29,375.
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Well, I suppose it was partially expected, but I still have a hard time getting over $35K on the 135i. Its becoming a quickly crowded segment, and I'm sure the BMW is going to be a wonderful piece of machinery to drive, but I'm still having a hard time wanting one more than a 3er these days...
 
How much does a S3 cost in the US.

That 1 series coupe is so ugly.
 
forza2.0
How much does a S3 cost in the US.
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We actually don't have the S3 in the United States, and as far as my knowledge can stretch, I don't think we have any plans to receive it as well.

Best comparison that is both German and of similar size?

The Audi A3 3.2 Quattro starts at a bit more than $34K.
 
$30k? Price is a bit too high for me to be even remotely interested. FAIL.
 
YSSMAN
We actually don't have the S3 in the United States, and as far as my knowledge can stretch, I don't think we have any plans to receive it as well.

Best comparison that is both German and of similar size?

The Audi A3 3.2 Quattro starts at a bit more than $34K.
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Thats expensive but just noticed that you guys only get teh sportback A3. Very sad affair reckon the S3 would have been a hit stateside with deep pocketed tuners.
 
Considering that you can get 3s for the same price, I'll pass. But the 128i doesn't sound too bad for $28k. Looks like you are paying $10k per engine liter.
And that optioning scheme seems a little overdone. Are there many other cars in this price segment where you can get around $20k in options?
 
My dad was interested in buying one.. Then we realized how small it is. Only four people can fit inside.

And I think my dad can afford a 2008 M3. W00t!!​
 
philly cheese
Considering that you can get 3s for the same price, I'll pass. But the 128i doesn't sound too bad for $28k. Looks like you are paying $10k per engine liter.
And that optioning scheme seems a little overdone. Are there many other cars in this price segment where you can get around $20k in options?
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BMW can be pretty bad about nickel and dime'ing you on fluffy options, but unfortunately, that's pretty SOP in the premium market.

You can option out the A3 to about $43,000 from a base price of $25,930. That's excluding dealer installed accessories.

The new CTS my wife and I are looking at can ring the register at almost $47k from a base price of $32,990 if you check every option.

The Lexus IS starts at $30,455, but you can get the 350, add a $12,490 Uber-Sport Package for a final price of $49,160.


M
 
Too bad. Had BMW made the car light enough and/or cheap enough, I'm sure there would have actually been truth to the rumours of a reborn 2002. As it stands, though, it has pretty much no advantage over the 3 series, especially in 135ci form.
 
Funny thing about the 1 series is that, it really is the previous 3-series with slightly un-pretty sheet-metal. It does start to grow on you after a while.

For that "Starting Price" I can pick up a brand new "naked" Infiniti G37 Coupe.
And the "naked" car comes pretty nicely optioned (six CD changer, dual zone climate control, heated leather seats, steering wheen controls for audio, and standard cruise control, etc.)
Now, if you check all the option boxes you can get up to about $45K on the coupe, but only $40,325 on the top of the line G35x. I kept off the "technology package" which adds $1100, but I've heard some things about "adaptive cruise control" that make me not want it on any car I drive.
Keep in mind that the G37 is only slightly off of the twin-turbo 3-series coupe's performance, and several thousand dollars off it's price....
 
///M-Spec
BMW can be pretty bad about nickel and dime'ing you on fluffy options, but unfortunately, that's pretty SOP in the premium market.

You can option out the A3 to about $43,000 from a base price of $25,930. That's excluding dealer installed accessories.

The new CTS my wife and I are looking at can ring the register at almost $47k from a base price of $32,990 if you check every option.

The Lexus IS starts at $30,455, but you can get the 350, add a $12,490 Uber-Sport Package for a final price of $49,160.


M
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On the CTS: ITS NOT THE SAME SIZE AS A 3-er/A4/IS. Its 5-sized.

A 535i starts at around $50K. You check every option box on a 535i and its closer to $70 grand.


BMW's pricing is almost as bad as nissans.
 
Tophaticent
On the CTS: ITS NOT THE SAME SIZE AS A 3-er/A4/IS. Its 5-sized.

A 535i starts at around $50K. You check every option box on a 535i and its closer to $70 grand.

BMW's pricing is almost as bad as nissans.
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Erm. How about maybe reading the post I was responding to?

philly cheese
Are there many other cars in this price segment* where you can get around $20k in options?
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*emphasis mine

Thanks for the news flash on the CTS, but I think I already figured that out when I went to drive one.


M
 
Anyone that proposes the 1er is pointless because you can get a 3er or one of its competitors for the same money doesn't understand the point of this car. It's smaller and lighter, maybe not as light as it could or should be, but every bit helps.

TheCracker
It truely is an ugly, badly proportioned car.
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I happen to think it's one of BMW's best-proportioned cars since the E30, and coupification really helped the 1er's looks.
 
In that pic that YSSMAN put in his first past there is a guy standing behind it that looks like a young Clarkson!! compare it with YSSMAN's avatar and you can see the slight resemblance! :lol: That guy looks disgusted at the BMW.

Speaking of Clarskon and the one series and how expensive it is cue my sig below...👍

I actually like it, looks like a mini new 3 series coupe.

Robin
 
Wolfe
I happen to think it's one of BMW's best-proportioned cars since the E30, and coupification really helped the 1er's looks.
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Your eyes must be distorted then ;)

The 1-series always remind me of those transplant cars where some fool transplants a Skyline nose onto a 180SX or a RR Phantom nose onto an Escalade. It's like someones put a 3-series nose onto a Corolla or the like. Don't even get me started on those scalloped sills :yuck:
 
I prefer the 3-door hatch to this.. it's nominally lighter too, I think. so, when will we see 135i hatch?
 
TheCracker
Adrian van Hooydonk is the chief designer at BMW these days. Bangle was promoted to head of tea making.
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What kinda name is Hooydonk ?...

The 1 series is pretty much still a Bangled Up design...
 
Hooydonk.. sounds like a name that's from Denmark or Netherlands..

💡 no wonder that the car looks so trippy, the designers were high while drawing it!! :lol:
 
Yes...a bit pricey. I'd rather buy a Supra for Six-cylinder Twin Turbo power.

and they dont' even make those, anymore

Come ON, BMW, no-one's gonna pay 3-series prices for a SMALLER car! at least offer us Yanks the 120i. for less than $23K.

On the other hand, I like the Idea of a smaller, lighter BMW...for less.
 
There was the Tii concept I believe, which would be like the M1.

That aside, I can get a fully optioned IS350 for less than they want for a loaded 1 series. Reeks of pure madness.

They might as well have just made it a replacement for a Z car or something, because most sane people looking at BMWs are going to want to spring for the bigger car for LESS money.
 
If there is an M1, It had better be mid-engined, have huge amounts of power, and a top speed of over 200MPH.

Why?

This car would like to tell you.

BMW_M1_2.jpg


"I'll be damned if any car sharing my name isnt' a supercar!"

On the other hand, calling the M-car "135tii" would be a step in the right direction.
 
Well if the 135i was the "tii" from the start, my guess is that I'd likely be less disturbed by the price of the car overall. I mean, that is not to say that it would be a horrible idea to buy and drive one, as I'm sure that if I had the money and was in the market for a car such as this, it would sit at the top of the list... But when you can get a 3-series for the same price, well, I'd honestly want to get the slightly larger option.

I dunno. I agree with Jim, we should have gotten the 120i. That would have honestly kept my interest far-longer, being a bit more "obtainable" at the very least. Actually, I'd really love to see a 130d come over, if they even make one, but that likely depends on whether or not they do a 330d here in the States.
 
Sorry, but for my next car, I'll gladly spend an extra $5k for a 3-series coupe :rolleyes:. Seriously, $35k for a 1-series??? What segment are they trying to attract??
 

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